Hotels Being Considered for Some Parolees

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A group working on criminal justice reforms in South Dakota has broached the idea of putting some parolees in Sioux Falls hotels, but local officials don't like the idea.

About 100 former South Dakota prison inmates with no money for housing start out on parole by sleeping in minimum-security correctional facilities. The working group created under Gov. Dennis Daugaard's initiative to treat more offenders through programs outside prison walls has suggested placing some of them in Sioux Falls hotels instead, with four men to a room.

Minnehaha County Commissioner Jeff Barth tells the Argus Leader he thinks that could lead to bad behavior.

Board of Pardons and Paroles Executive Director Ed Ligtenberg says the hotel proposal is just one being considered, and details haven't even been worked out.

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